The Black Rose
by Horrible-Sanity-Poe
Summary: Mai and Zuko story 'cause I think that they were meant to be together. This takes place during the war between the world and the Fire Nation. It flashes back to when Azula, Zuko, and Mai were little kids about seven years old at times.
1. Chapter 1

Nine Years Earlier…

"I think your brother's cute," Mai whispered to Azula as they watched Zuko practice his Firebending forms for the upteenth time that morning.

"Zuko? Really, Mai?" Azula turned to look Mai full in the face as if she wasn't sure if Mai was being serious or joking. No one likes her brother. Her own father didn't at least.

"Yeah. Why do you find that weird?"

"It's just that he's a little pathetic thing. He's not good at anything. Even my father will agree with me."

"Shut up, Azula. He's sweet."

"Then why don't you tell him that you like him?"

"I can't just go up to him and tell him something like that."

"Like what?" They weren't paying attention to his practice and didn't know that his uncle let him have a break.

"Oh nothing, Zu Zu. Just that Mai really likes you."

Mai just stood there looking at Azula in shock. She had told him. Mai thought that she could trust her. She thought wrong apprently.

"Oh." Zuko brushed his hand up and down the backside of his head. He had no idea what to say to that. "Umm… I have to go. I think I hear Uncle calling me." He turned and ran as fast as he could from the two girls.

"See. I told you he was pathetic. He can't even talk to you without running away."

Mai didn't say anything back to her. She just glared at her, but Azula did nothing. Mai had wanted her to do something. She had been looking for an excuse to use her new knives ever since she got them for her seventh birthday just the week before. Mai calmed herself before things got too out of hand.

"You now nothing about him, Azula."

"You don't either. You're not his sister like I am. I'll know more about him than you will ever learn."

"Try me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Mai POV**

Mai woke up with a start from her dream. Well it was more like a memory. The day that Azula told Zuko about how much Mai liked him. She had thought that she could've been trusted. How could she have been so stupid. With a knock on her door, she was taken out of her memory. He mother walked in.

"What do you want?" Mai asked as she threw the blankets back over her head.

"That is no way to address your elder and it is time for you to wake up, Mai. Remember that you agreed to watch your little brother?"

"Whatever." She pulled the pillow over her head too.

"Excuse me?" Her mother pulled the blanket and the pillow off of her in one swift movement.

"I'm getting up."

"That's more like it."

Mai sat up in her bed and looked out her window. It was a gloomy day today. What a great way to start out a beautiful day. She gets to watch her little brother and do nothing for the rest of the day. Oh yeah, this is going to turn out to be perfect.

* * *

"Tom Tom!"

Mai got up and went over to where her little brother had gone. He was heading toward the edge of the balcony that they were sitting on.

"Why did they have to have you? Why couldn't I be an only child for all my life?"

Tom Tom looked up at her from her arms and for a second he was calm until he pulled on her hair. She was about ready to pull out one of her knives, but was interrupted by someone giggling in the background.

"Would you really be able to kill your little brother?"

"What do you want, Azula?" The rush of the memory that she was thinking about in the morning came back just like it does every time that Mai sees Azula.

"Oh nothing. Just wanted to drop on by and see what you were doing."

"Well, as you can clearly see, I'm not doing anything. Now what is the real reason that you wanted to come here?"

"I swear I came by just because. Only," she put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a note that was folded, "what is this? I don't remember this being in here." She opened it and started to read it to Mai. " 'My dearest Mai, how long I have been waiting to say this to you. You are my whole world and I would be very honored if you would accompany me to Ember Island this weekend. Yours truly, Zuko' Now isn't that sweet!"

"Let me see that!" She grabbed it out of Azula's hand and read it over a million times thinking it wasn't true. "You're not just making this up are you?"

"Now, Mai, why would I do something like that to you? You're my friend." She ended it with an evil smile that Mai didn't trust. Azula turned to walk out of the room but turned on her heel as if to add something to that. "He told me to tell you that he wants to be in your garden at sunset so that one of the officers could pick you up."

"Umm… thanks, Azula." Mai was still confused beyond words could explain, but the happiness that she felt inside buried the confusion deep inside.


	3. Chapter 3

Zuko POV

Zuko woke up with a start. He had the same dream again that he has been having every night for the past week. It's a memory from when he was seven and Azula told him that Mai liked him. He had run away like a coward and really hurt her. Over the years he never really forgave himself and he doesn't even know where to start. Like she would forgive him anyway. So because of that he just avoids Mai at all costs.

"Oh Zu Zu!" Azula came into his room.

"Don't you know how to knock?" He rubbed his eyes from the sudden light that filled his bedroom.

"Of course I do. It's just that I have something for you. But I guess you don't want what I have to give you."

Zuko was quiet as Azula go close to the door to leave, but his curiosity got the better of him. Right before she closed the door, he said, "Wait. Let me see it."

"I know you couln't stand not knowing."

She searched her pockets until she found what she was looking for. It was a folded note. Zuko reached out before Azula was able to read it out loud to him.

_Zuko,_

_I have decided that the family is need of a vacation. You and Azula are to meet me at Ember Island this weekend. I will send some guards for you._

_Fire Lord Ozai_

"Is this for real?"

"Why? Do you think I would make up something like this?"

"Only you would, Azula."

"Zu Zu, I'm surprised at that you would think I would do something like that. I'm your sister and I love you." She played an innocent smile.

"You are the farthest from what I would consider to be a sister."

"That really hurt, Zuko." The fake sadness all over her face was so sickening it made Zuko throw up a little in his mouth. "And also, Father told me to tell you that we have to wait in the front hall for the guards at sunset so they can escort us to the boats." She was quiet for a little bit with Zuko staring at her. "Well, with that said, I'm off."

She turned to leave and closed the door behind her which left Zuko in the dark once again.

"Since when do we go on vacations as a 'family'?" he asked out loud to himself before pulling the covers over his head and going back to sleep.


	4. Author's Note

Hey peeps! What's up? So yeah I know that I haven't been on this site for a while. I'm so epically sorry for that. I recently met up with a long lost friend these past few months (or years?). So I've been hanging out with him and then with school and everything, I haven't really had time to write anything really. I so missed being on this site. But now I'm back for the mean time. I start college in August so I'm trying to finish most of the stories that I have up here and then maybe put up a new one? Well, we shall see. Hope everyone's fine! -Aless


	5. Chapter 4

Mai walked around in the garden just inside of the courtyard just outside her house. This is what she always does whenever she can't sleep. The moon was too bright anyway to try to get some sleep in.

The thought that kept running through her head is how Zuko will be when it's just her and him. The last time she was on Ember Island they had just confessed about their personal lives and when everyone kept bugging Zuko on who he was mad at, he exploded. She is afraid that someone might seriously get injured. Mai wasn't worried about her safety, but about Zuko's. What if he gets mad and then storms off to some place and gets into some serious trouble? How would she help him then? She had no answers to either of these questions.

But there was always that chance of everything going well. Then they would have a pleasant time just being with each other. Nothing or no one to bother them. It would be nice. Wouldn't it?

She kept walking around imagining Zuko and hers weekend together. Finally walking around to the roses on her way inside, she spotted a black rose. It was the only one among the red ones. That's not a good sign she said to herself as she picked the rose and smelt its heavenly scent.

"Azula, where's dad?" Zuko asked her as they were practicing their Firebending forms in the courtyard.

"Why would I know? I'm not his keeper?"

"Please, Azula. It's important that I talk to him about something."

"What might that something be?" She had a slight hesitation in her voice.

"Just about that note that you gave to me the other day. It sounds kind of weird."

"You don't need to talk to him about that. He had said that he doesn't want anyone bugging him about it. Just forget about it."

"All right then." Like he really would.

Later that day Zuko was sitting in his bed room. He was waiting until Azula went out with Mai and Ty Lee to do whatever they did. Probably girl stuff.

When he saw Azula go past his window and out of the palace gates, he quickly made his way to his father's chambers. He was going to ask him about the note no matter what Azula says.

When he finally managed to get there he took a deep breath before he went in. for some reason he always did this before he went to his father's chambers.

"Father?"

"Yes?"

He stayed by the door in case he had to make a fast get away. He had enough scars to last him a lifetime

"I just need-"

"Zuko, you need to come to the front to show respect to me."

"Yes, Father." He walked slowly to the front of the room and bowed before his father.

"Now, what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"I had received a letter addressed to me from you. There was something odd-"

"Wait. I never sent you a letter. If I had needed to talk to you, I would have sent for you. What did this letter say?"

"It said that you wanted me and Azula to meet you at Ember Island."

"Why would I do that?"

"You had said that the family needed a vacation. You wanted to go this weekend."

"I never said that," she said staring at this son quizzically.

"Thank you, Father, for clearing that up. I am sorry to have disturbed you so suddenly," Zuko said as he backed toward the door. His father said nothing in return.

Zuko turned the conversation with his father around in his head. How could his father not have sent that note? He reached his bedroom and sat on his window seat and looked outside at the rose garden that was there. He saw something in the back by the well that made him lean closer to the window. He eventually ran out of the room because of the window and had to go outside in order to see what it was.

When he got there he saw that it was a black rose after he picked it. He stared at it. He only looked away because he heard the gates open and saw Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula come through it.

"Oh look girls. Zuko is trying to be a gardener!" They all, except Mai, laughed at this. Zuko blushed.

"If Zuko wants to be a gardener, I don't see what's so wrong with that."

Azula ignored this comment and went to where Zuko was standing. "Why don't you give that flower to Mai? She's forgiven you after all those years," she said with a devilish smile on her face.

He stared at the flower and walked over to Mai. "I want you to have this flower."

Mai took it and replied, "Thank you, Zuko. Also I'm really excited about this weekend. It should-" Azula had ran over and covered her mouth.

"Why don't we go inside girls and look at the things we bought," Azula said as she ushered them inside.

Zuko stared at them retreating thinking about what Mai said about this weekend. Why was she so excited?


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Mai and her family were all sitting around the table for dinner on Thursday night when she decided to ask them if she could even go with Zuko to Ember Island.

"Mother, Father. I need to ask you two something. It's about this weekend."

"Is this about the trip that Prince Zuko asked you to go with him?"

Mai dropper her chopsticks. Her face was filled with shock and her brain was a complete blank. "How do you know about that? Did you got through my room?"

"There was a note sticking out from one of your robes," her mother said.

"So you decide to read it instead of leaving it alone?"

"Mai, you shouldn't keep things like that from us."

"I can't believe you!"

"Well to answer your question, you aren't allowed to go with Zuko. He is not a good influence for you to be around," her father added.

"He's more of a man than you will ever be!" she yelled as she point to her father.

"Young lady! That is no way to treat your father. You need to simmer down in your room."

"I would be more than honored to." She stormed out of the room as she said that.

"I can't believe they went through my things. Haven't they ever hear of a little thing called privacy?" Mai asked aloud in her room.

"Mai? Your father and I have—" Her mother walked into her room only to find a note laying on her bed.

"Mai!"

Her father ran in. "What's the matter?"

"She's gone! She's gone!"

"Well, she can't have gone far. I'll send out some guards to secure the palace perimeter."

"Maybe we shouldn't have been so hard on her. What if she doesn't come back?" She turned to her husband and he wrapped her arms around her as she cried.

"She'll come back. The other times she ran away, she'd always come back before nightfall. Have you read the letter Mai left yet?"

"No," she said as she wiped her eyes clear of tears.

"Maybe we should in case she wrote where she was going." He started to read from the note aloud:

_Mother and Father,_

_I have never understood why you hate Zuko so much. I'm going to go with him anyway. I will return when you can learn to accept him for who he is and not what he is because of his father._

_Your daughter,_

_Mai_

No one said anything after he finished reading the letter, except for Mai's mother who broke down in tears in her husband's arms.

*~*~*  
"Thanks for letting me stay here for the night, Ty Lee."

"No problem. That's what friends are for. You can stay in the guest room if you want," Ty Lee said as she spread out a blanket on the guest bed.

"I'll repay you for it."

"Mai, don't worry about it. It's not a problem. So are you really going to Ember Island with Zuko tomorrow?"

"How did you know about it?"

"Azula told me about it."

"Of course she did."

There was silence for a few seconds as Ty Lee made the bed.

"Can I tell you something?" Ty Lee asked.

"Anything."

"Promise you won't get mad or defensive?"

"Promise," Mai said with slight hesitation in her voice.

"Maybe you shouldn't go with Zuko to Ember Island. I have a suspicion that it will only end badly."

Mai stared at Ty Lee. "Oh, so you don't think I should be with Zuko either because he's the Firelord's son?"

"That's not why I said—"

"Well, I'm going no matter what you people say! I need to get some air."

Mai shoved Ty Lee out of the way as she made her way to the front door. When she got outside she collapsed against the door. There she wept until Ty Lee came out to check on her. When Ty Lee did come out, she sat down next to Mai. They sat there in silence.

Mai was the first one to say something. "Why is everyone hung up on Zuko being this horrible person? I know him better than anyone probably. He's a person that was born into the wrong family."

"I believe you."

"Then why did you say for me not to go?"

"I said that because I heard some things that point to something bad will happen if you go to that island tomorrow."

"Well, whatever you heard, it's most likely a lie."

"I doubt that."

Mai never heard that last part as she had already closed the front door to go to her room to pack for the next day.

"It has to be a lie," she said to herself. For some reason she didn't believe herself as she looked over at the rose that Zuko had given to her.

When the sun shown through Mai's window, she got up. She hadn't been able to sleep at all the night before because she was too busy thinking about the next day. Also too busy with thinking how she was going to keep herself occupied for the rest of the day until sunset. She decided that she would say sorry to Ty Lee for her behavior the day before.

Ty Lee got really excited when Mai had apologized. She said that she could never stay mad at Mai. After they hugged each other, Ty Lee offered to help Mai get ready for her weekend. They went shopping for a new outfit and swimsuit. Ty Lee even bought one.

"Thanks for taking me out today, Ty Lee."

"No problem, Mai. I always love shopping."

"More like addicted."

They laughed and joked around until Mai looked out and saw the sun had already started to set She had to get a move on if she wanted to be at her garden right at sunset. Ty Lee helped the frantic Mai pack and gather he things. When they got t Mai's house, Mai pulled her hood of her robe up so that nobody that was looking for her would know that it was her and turn her back into her parents. Then they waited.

"Before I go, Mai, can I tell you something?"

"Here we go again," Mai said as she rolled her eyes at Ty Lee.

"Just hear me out. You promise me that if anything goes wrong you somehow get a hold of me."

"I promise."

"Okay. Well, I have to go before my parents think anything has happened to me. Are you going to be okay until the guards come?"

"Yeah, I should be fine. Thanks again for everything, Ty Lee."

"No problem, Mai." Ty Lee walked off into the setting sun as she said this with a final wave to Mai, who waved back.

Mai, waited, and waited, and waited until way past sun set. She kept telling herself that maybe he was running late or something. But it got to be so dark that Mai could barely see her hand right in front of her face even with the moon out. She ultimately decided that Zuko wasn't coming nor were any of his guards.

Felling defeated and betrayed, Mai drew her robes closer to herself and gathered up all of her things and headed back to Ty Lee's house.

"Coming!" Ty Lee said when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it to find Mai in tears and sitting on the ground. "Mai! What happened?"

"He didn't show."

"I am so sorry, Mai." She gave Mai a hug and tried to get her to stand. "Maybe we should go inside?"

Mai nodded and started to reach for her luggage. "No! You go march straight inside! I'll get these," Ty Lee said as she ushered Mai inside and she got the luggage.

When everything was inside, Ty Lee sat Mai on her bed. "Want to talk about it?" she asked after they sat in silence for a while.

Mai shook her head no and put her head onto Ty Lee's shoulders. She cried until Ty Lee's shoulder was soaked with her tears when Mai finally stopped. Ty Lee moved her to her own room.

"You need to sleep and then you'll feel a lot better in the morning. Call if you need anything," Ty Lee said as she shut Mai's door.

Mai sat there on her bed for a few hours before moving. She eventually did and only to take the rose that Zuko gave her and crushed it in her hands.

"Stupid flower! I should have never accepted it from Zuko! What was I thinking?" she yelled at the crushed rose on the floor now.


	7. Chapter 6

Mai walked around in her house wondering how she was going to tell Zuko that she was really by not showing up or even one of his guards. She would never be able to yell at Zuko. He was too sweet for that. She kept thinking about until an idea popped into her head. She would write him a note. That was so she wouldn't have to be there if things go real ugly. Not that she expected that from Zuko. It was just that he had a tendency to over react to things a lot. But she would have to eventually do it. She would have to face him. There was going to be a meeting of everyone who lived in the royal palace, and there she would catch up with him then. She would ask him why he wasn't there to meet her. There was no way around it for him there.

As Mai got ready for the meeting, she was trying to think of ways to "casually" ask Zuko why he stood her up. Part of her wanted to hear what he had to say, and the other part was afraid to hear the reason. She thought of things like just going up and asking him point blank what had happened. She had thought of other ways, but ultimately went with just asking him. She finished getting ready and headed out to hunt down Zuko.

Five minutes before the meeting was to start, she found Zuko hanging around his father and sister, Azula. She headed toward them.

"Zuko?" she asked when she tapped him on his shoulder.

"Mai." The way he said her name was a mix of resentment and pleasure of seeing her. She couldn't tell which it was filled with more.

"Can I speak with you?"

"Um, sure. Father?" His father looked down at him. "May I be excused to talk to Mai?" His father nodded in approval. "Thank you, sir," he said as he took Mai to an unoccupied room off the main hall.

"What's up, Mai?"

"I think you know why I want to talk to you."

He looked at her with a blank stare.

"How can you not know? It's about standing me up this past weekend."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't say that like I'm crazy. You had wanted the two of us to go to Ember Island this past weekend to be alone. Then when I was waiting for you where you had said to wait, you never came for me."

"Mai, I still have no idea what you're talking about. Start from the beginning."

"Well, Azula gave me a note—"

"Wait. Azula?"

"Yeah, why do you…." Then it hit her. Of course Azula would do something like that. She was that low and sly. "Why didn't I think of it sooner. Azula made it when we didn't have time to talk to each other until tonight."

"Well done." Azula stood there looking at the two of them. "It took you long enough, Mai."

"What is the matter with you, Azula?" Zuko asked when he was right in her face.

"Nothing. I was bored and wanted to do something fun. Can't I have a little fun in my life, Zuko?" She batted her eyelashes at him.

"That's not acceptable, Azula."

"Yeah, well you're not my father are you."

"If only I were."

"Well, if you don't know how to take a joke, then you are not brother of mine."

"You were never my sister, Azula," Zuko said as he took Mai's hand in his and turned his back on his sister even though it hurt him really deep down in his guts. He didn't' want to do it. They stopped when they rounded the corner.

"I'm so sorry for my sister. I would have never done that to you. I love you too much."

"You love me?" She could feel a smile growing on her face.

"Of course," he smiled.

"I love you too."

"I'm so glad to hear that." He leaned down to kiss may for the first time.

~*~*Epilogue*~*~

Zuko hasn't talked to his sister since that fateful day. He and Mai moved into a country home on Ember Island in a secluded spot.

That was ten years ago. He and Mai have a lovely daughter named Ursa after Zuko's mother. They both decided that it was the right thing to do since no one has seen her in years. It was meant to keep her in everyone's memory. One day she may return to Zuko.

They have never hear of or from Azula until they died in each other's arms in their sleep when they were 112 years old. They died after a happy and full life. They regretted nothing that they did or what other people did to them. That's how everyone should be.


End file.
